


Some Little Tragedy

by smaragdbird



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Gang Rape, Implied/Referenced Torture, Multi, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Protective Jess, Protective Leia, Rape Aftermath
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-01
Updated: 2016-05-08
Packaged: 2018-06-05 18:16:32
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6715960
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smaragdbird/pseuds/smaragdbird
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Back during his days as a pilot for the Republic Poe had a reputation for being a flirt who led people on (really Poe being friendly and people misconstructing that because he's so goddamn handsome).<br/>One night after too many drinks this took a dark turn when a couple of Poe's fellow pilots decided they had enough and gangraped him. And since one of them was the son of an important politician the whole thing was covered up and became a sort of joke that Poe couldn't get enough.<br/>Leia believed Poe and offered him a position in the Resistance so he could get away.<br/>In the aftermath of Hosnian’s destruction the Republic teamed up with the Resistance under Leia’s command, cue a bunch of Poe’s former colleagues (among them the abusers) coming to base. They keep alluding to the ‘incident’ and tease about a repeat.<br/>Leia, Jess and Snaps know and try their best to protect Poe. Rey and Finn don’t know the details but they notice that these people make Poe uncomfortable and that’s not okay with them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [this ](http://tfa-kink.dreamwidth.org/3467.html?thread=7531403#cmt7531403) prompt

“RIS should just give in and make us an official team on their payroll”, Poe said when he, Jessika and Snaps left the debriefing. The mission had been a success and he was looking forward to two weeks of shore leave before he’d return to his squadron near the Gevarno loop. Not many people hopped between spy missions for the Republic’s intelligence service and the Fleet.

“Don’t you like hunting pirates?” Jess asked.

“If only there were pirates. But there’s nothing. Or at least officially there isn’t. Entire ships are going missing but everyone pretends that they aren’t-“

“Poe”, Snaps interrupted him. “We’ve been in and out of the fucking Heldred Sector for five weeks. Stop talking about work.”

“Okay, okay”, Poe smiled when he saw his friends’ faces. “I’m going to find out tomorrow”, he said with a wink.

Jess threw her head back and let out an exasperated groan while Snaps asked, “Do you know the meaning of the word vacation?”

“I hope so”, someone else said. It was Captain Tain, son of the minister of defence. 

Poe felt slightly unsettled in Tain’s presence. Not the least because Tain had pursued him quite adamantly in the past despite Poe turning him down again and again.

“Congratulations”, Tain said to all of them. “If you’re here I’m guessing that means your mission was successful.”

“You know we can’t talk about that”, Snaps replied.

“Of course”, Tain smiled. “I and few of my friends are going out for drinks. Would you like to join us?” His question wasn’t addressed to anyone in particular but his eyes rested on Poe.

Snaps and Jess both shook their heads but Poe nodded. He had wanted to get a drink anyway, now that he could again and Tain wasn’t bad company just persistent.

“I’ll see you guys later”; he said to Snaps and Jessika.

“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do”, Jess called after him.

Poe threw her a grin over his shoulder. “That leaves the door wide open, doesn’t it?”

/

He felt disorientated. Maybe that had been one drink too many. Where was he? He felt strangely weightless. Why couldn’t he move? There were voices. There was something heavy around his ankles and his wrists. Who had he been drinking with? Tain, he remembered now, Tain and a couple others had invited him.

A sharp pain flashed through his body as someone pushed into him. He could feel their hands gripping his hips as they thrust harshly. He moaned in pain and tried to get away from them but his body wouldn’t let him.

“Good morning princess”, someone said and grabbed his head by the hair and pulled him up. “How nice of you to join us.”

Poe blinked and tried to focus. He was lying on a mattress with his hands and feet bound together. As he looked around he could make out six people including the Togruta who was holding his head up and the guy who was fucking him.

He knew them. He knew all of them. They were his fellow pilots. He had just been laughing and drinking with them. This couldn’t be happening. This was some kind of nightmare. He had drunken too much and would wake up any moment.

“Seems like you had the right idea, that a good, hard fuck would wake him up”, Barla said to Tain. 

“How does he feel?” Kleo wanted to know.

“Nice and tight”, Tain replied. “Didn’t think a whore could feel this nice.”

“Let me go”, Poe demanded and tried to struggle but whatever they had given him it left him paralysed from the neck down.

They laughed as if it was the funniest thing they had heard in a while. 

“You know, you could’ve made it so much easier on yourself if you hadn’t led us on”, Iridia said and caressed his cheek. “We would’ve been nice. But now we have to punish you. It’s your own fault for being such a stuck up bitch.”

“Guys, please, just let me go. I won’t tell anyone.” Poe had realised he was completely at their mercy. Whatever they wanted to do with him, they could. He took a deep breath and screamed for help. 

Iridia slapped him across the face, her fingernails leaving scratches on his cheek. “Shut your mouth, whore. Do you really think this room isn’t sound proof?”

Poe ignored her and screamed again. It was his only hope because he was pretty sure they weren’t going to let him go any time soon.

Areno’s grip on his hair tightened and he pressed Poe’s face into the mattress so tightly that he couldn’t breathe.

“Don’t let him pass out”, he heard Tain say. “I want him to feel this. All of it.”

Areno let go of him and Poe took a deep, shuddering breath.

“We should give him something to do with his mouth”, Kleo suggested.

“You want to go first?” Areno asked. “Personally I’d rather have his ass if Tain’s ever going to be done with him.”

“Sure”, Kleo said with a shrug while Tain replied, 

“I’m taking my time to enjoy this.”

Areno rolled his eyes. “We have the whole night to enjoy this. What about you, girl?”

“I’d rather fuck him”, Barla said. 

“I want his mouth”, Iridia said, “But I want you guys to teach him obedience first.”

While they were talking Kleo had gotten rid of his clothes and taken over from Areno. He tilted Poe’s head back until he couldn’t bend it anymore and looked him in the eyes. “We can do this the heart way or the easy way”, Kleo said. He held a taser in his other hand for Poe to see. “I have no problems using this on you if I’m not satisfied with your performance. But if you even think of biting me I’m going to take my belt and whip you until your back is nothing but a raw, bloody mess.”

He held the taser against Poe’s side and turned it on. Poe screamed while behind him Tain groaned, his thrusts becoming fast and erratic as he came. “Fuck, you should do that again”, he said breathlessly, plastered over Poe’s back. “It makes him amazingly tight.”

“You understand me?” Kleo asked.

Poe couldn’t remember ever having felt worse. His whole body hurt and he felt like he couldn’t breathe.

“Do you understand me?” Kleo repeated.

“Just let me go, please”, Poe whispered. His throat hurt from screaming as well as the shock.

“Don’t be such a whiny bitch”, Tain said as he pulled out. “You should just relax and enjoy it.”

“Please”, he looked at Kleo, at Iridia, Barla, Areno and Tla’re. But all of them gave him, dispassionate looks in return.

“We told you we can do this the easy way or the hard way”, Areno said. “Your choice.”

When Poe said nothing, Kleo activated the taser again.

“No, no, please”, Poe said before it could touch his skin.

“Last chance”, Kleo replied. “Now open up.”

Poe did as he was told. Kleo wasted no time pushing his half-hard cock down Poe’s throat. It was all he could do to keep breathing through the harsh rhythm Kleo set up. He almost choked when he felt someone else grip his hips and push into him.

“You’re right”, Areno groaned. “He feels great. Would’ve thought a slut like this would be looser.”

“Maybe he will be once you guys are done with him”, Barla grinned.

“Loose enough to take two?” Tla’re asked.

Tain shrugged. “I thought we were going to do that anyway. Tight or not, I bet it’s nothing he hasn’t done before.”

Panic gripped Poe when he heard them talk like this. They couldn’t mean it.

“Want to try it now?” Areno asked.

From the corner of his eyes Poe could see Kleo shrug. “Sure why not.”

“No please, you can’t – “Poe started pleading as soon as Kleo pulled his cock from his mouth. Again it was Iridia who cut him off with a slap.

“You’d think a soldier would be better at following orders”, she hissed and activated the taser.

Poe screamed as the currents tore through his body again and made every muscle clench. It lasted longer this time, stopping just before he lost consciousness.

“That should shut him up for a bit”, Iridia said.

“Good thing I have better stamina than Tain”, Areno teased, panting as he wrapped his arms around Poe’s chest and pulled him backwards. His useless legs fell open and Kleo knelt down in front of him.

“Please…don’t”, Poe whimpered.

Kleo rolled his eyes. “I really don’t get why you’re fighting this so much. If you don’t like us then just imagine it’s someone else fucking you. We all heard the rumours of what you usually get up to.” As he was talking, Kleo covered his fingers with lube and teased the rim of Poe’s already stretched hole, pushing until he could get them inside.

Poe whimpered in pain while Areno let out an appreciative groan.

“You’re ready?” Kleo asked.

Poe closed his eyes and tried to breathe through the pain. He was a spy, he had been trained to withstand pain. “The Republic will not be intimidated by you”, he whispered.

“What was that?” Areno growled into his ear as Kleo kept pushing him.

Poe ignored him. “The Republic will not be intimidated by you.”

“He’s using his interrogation mantra”, Tain chuckled. “How cute.”

“Think we can fuck it out of him?” Kleo asked Areno with a grin as if this was some kind of new, exciting challenge.

“Pretty sure we can”, Areno replied with the same expression on his face.

Poe tried to hold on to his mantra as long as he could but Tain and his friends were a lot more creative than any of his trainers had been. They were his colleagues, he had trusted him and they no problems drugging and raping him. It wasn’t enough for them just to use him, especially Iridia, Barla and Tain wanted him to actively participate.

Iridia held the taser threateningly closed to Poe’s skin as she pulled his head between her legs and ordered him to eat her out.

Barla kissed him forcefully as Areno sunk his sharp teeth into Poe’s shoulder. Poe screamed as the togruta’s fangs pierce his skin.

“He’s too soft to fuck me”; Barla complained, roughly jerking at his cock.

Tla’Re grinned. “I think I can help you with that.”

The Quarren pushed a pen injector against Poe’s neck and pressed the release button. The effects didn’t take immediately but within a few minutes Poe noticed how his skin became flushed, he felt warm and to his horror his cock hardened.

“When the paralyser wears off prostate stimulation should be enough to make him come”, Tla’re explained. “But for now this should make do.”

Areno had already come and pulled out so Barla could turn Poe onto his back and straddle him.

“Hope you’re enjoying this as much as I do, sweetheart”, she said as she sank down on his cock.

She felt amazing, hot and wet and tight around him and Poe hated it that they made his body betray him like this. Barla grabbed one of his hands and rubbed it against her clit as she rode him.

Poe came first, a moan escaping from his lips as he came so intensely that it blurred everything else for a moment.

“Knew you’d enjoy this sooner or later”, Barla grinned down at him. Despite coming his cock was still hard inside her and it felt as if he hadn’t come at all.

When she clenched around him, Poe came a second time. It hurt but not as much as everything else they had done to him so far.

Tain took full advantage of the drug Tla’re had given Poe. He treated him as if this was something Poe had wanted, murmuring sweet words to him, making him come again and again, first when he fucked him alone and then when he fucked him together with Areno.

“You’re going to come on our cocks, love”, Tain whispered into his ear. “Without either of us touching you. Show us that a cock hungry slut like you can’t get enough.”

“Why me?” Poe asked, looking at Tain with tearstained eyes.

Tain smiled. “Oh, darling, it’s because I wanted you. And since you didn’t give it I had to take it. I wouldn’t have to use you like cheap rapemeat if you hadn’t been so obstinate. It’s all your fault.”

It only got worse from there. Tla’re didn’t fuck him until the paralyser started to wear off and he could make Poe stay on all fours with Iridia lying beneath him, legs spread and a hand on his cock. Quarren had tentacle penises and Tla’re used them to hit Poe’s prostate again and again until he was hard enough to fuck Iridia.

He could’ve struggled but what was the point? His hands and feet were still bound and if he tried to fight them they would only taser him again or worse. It was better just to let them do as they wanted and hope they’d leave him alive at the end.

Tain made Poe ride him, made him put on a show as if he wanted this, all the while continuing to switch between terms of endearment and insults meant to humiliate him.

Poe had hoped they would stop once they all seemed satisfied. There was a lull when they all sat around, leaving him lying in the middle.

“We can do whatever we want, right?” Kleo asked after the silence had lasted for a while. “I mean short of cutting something of bacta can heal anything, right?”

“Mostly”, Tla’re agreed. As a medic he would know such things. “I wouldn’t suggest gutting him either. Or bleed him too much.”

“What are you thinking about?” Tain asked.

Poe tensed when he heard footsteps and felt Kleo’s hand carding through his hair. “Just some fantasy I had for a while.”

/

“Hey guys you might want to get your friend inside”, one of their fellow pilots said to Jess and Snaps. “I think he overdid it with the drinks tonight. Saw him lying in front of the door.”

Jess and Snaps frowned at each other. Heavy drinking sounded very much unlike Poe. They both got up and walked to the front of the building. Jess shivered in the cold wind. 

Poe was lying on the street near the door, barely dressed and his clothes in disarray.

“Poe, hey, Poe”, Jess said and shook his shoulder. She got no response. “Poe”, she tried again, louder this time. His lips were blue and his skin felt clammy where she touched him. That was when she noticed the bruises on his neck. They looked like fingerprints.

“He didn’t have those earlier on, right?” She asked Snaps but he wasn’t paying attention to her. Instead he was staring at Poe’s back or actually a bit lower than that.

“Call an ambulance”, he said.

Jess leaned over Poe and saw what Snaps was staring at. There was blood on Poe’s trousers and it was slowly become more and more. Suddenly the coldness in her had nothing to do with the weather.

“No”, Jess whispered, understanding the implications. “No.”

“Call the ambulance”, he said again and took off his jacket to lay it over Poe. “I’ll stay with him.”


	2. Chapter 2

Leia had never felt the chains of her post more than in this moment when Wexley and Jessika stood in front of her and looked at her with such disappointment.

“You cannot allow these people on base”, Jessika said, anger colouring her voice. “Not after what they did.”

“Officially they didn’t do anything and unfortunately Senator Tain holds even more power now that most of the senate has been killed during the Hosnian destruction.” No one hated it more than her. But following the outline give to her by the government so she could have their remaining resources meant she’d have to house Commander Tain and his squadron on her base together with all the other remaining starfighter pilots the Republic had left.

“Can you station them on a different base?” Wexley asked. His demeanour was a lot calmer than Jessika’s but Leia was certain he was already planning how to sell half of the Republic’s Tainto Squadron into slavery in the Outer Rim.

“We don’t have a different base at the moment”, Leia reminded them.

“How about Luke? Can’t he mess with their heads so they will leave Poe alone? Or even better, confess and be locked away?” Jessika asked.

Leia had no doubt that Luke would, not only because Poe was Shara’s kid but also given their own friendship built on their love for flying and astromechs. But there was one problem with this solution. “That would entail telling Luke and Poe was pretty adamant about that.” He hadn’t even told his father. Only Leia, Wexley and Jessika knew why Poe had really left the Republic for the Resistance, not counting the people who were the reason and those who had covered it up.

Jessika bit her lip and looked at her feet. She desperately wanted to resolve this situation before Poe came back from his current mission. Then he would never have to know that his abusers almost made it to D’qar.

“I’m promoting Poe to Major”, Leia said to them. “I’m not sure how much it will help but at least he’ll outrank them.”

“We won’t give them the opportunity”, Wexley said. He looked from Leia to Jessika and back. “One of us is always going to be with Poe when he’s on base or if we can’t we’ll make sure someone else is.”

“And how do you plan to do that without telling people?” Jessika asked.

“Karé and Iolo know Poe doesn’t get along with Tain’s squad. We can drop some hints to Finn and Rey and we’ll tell BB8 to come and get someone if Poe’s ever on his own.”

Leia nodded. It was a better plan than anything she had come up with so far. 

“They wouldn’t...”Jessika hesitated. “They wouldn’t do it again, would they?”

“Remember how obsessed Tain was?” Wexley asked her.

Leia gave both of them a grim look. “I’m not taking any chances.”

/

When Poe woke up Finn was already awake, watching him.

“Morning”, Poe said.

“Morning”, Finn smiled and pushed a few strands of Poe’s hair from his face.

“What time is it?” Poe asked. He had his back to the nightstand and felt too warm and lazy to turn around.

“Still early.”

“Where you watching me sleep?”

“Do you mind?” Finn asked.

Poe shook his head.

“I never had that luxury before. Nor would I have wanted.”

Poe always melted a little when Finn said things like this. One the one hand he felt privileged to be the first person Finn shared these experiences with but on the other he wanted to go back in time and make sure Finn had a normal, happy upbringing instead of being raised by the First Order.

“Got any plans?” Finn asked a little mischievously and Poe knew by now where this was leading.

“Maybe”, he said and ran a finger down Finn’s chest.

Finn grinned. “I like where this is going.”

“Figured you might”, Poe said and pulled him into a kiss.

Afterwards they were lying on the bed, plastered against each other, doing nothing but kissing. Poe enjoyed this kind of intimacy. In fact he was glad he could enjoy it at all. There had been a time when he had thought he could never bear to be touched by someone like this again.

“We should get ready”, Poe said reluctantly because Finn was nuzzling his neck and he felt rather comfortable trapped between the mattress and Finn’s body.

Finn hummed distractedly and continued licking and sucking Poe’s skin as if there was nothing he’d rather do. 

“We still have to fly back to base”, Poe tried again but his protest would’ve worked better if he hadn’t tilted his head to give Finn more space to work and also wrapped a leg around Finn’s waist.

Finn moved a little lower and rested his chin on Poe’s chest as he grinned at him. “Thought you’re the best pilot in the galaxy. You can get us there in time.”

“That’s not how – “Poe started to say but Finn moved even lower and wrapped his wonderful lips around Poe’s cock. To hell with it, Poe thought, no one expected you to be back from your leave with your boyfriend on time anyway.

/

The problem with having three pilots on a ship built for two was that one had to sit the flight out. On the way to Yavin that had been Luke while on the way back it had been Rey. Poe had been lucky both times and he did his best to enjoy it. Which, unfortunately for Finn, meant more crazy flight manoeuvres than he could stomach, although fortunately not literally.

Officially Luke had taken Rey to Yavin because the last force tree grew there but Poe suspected that after the last few months Luke had needed a break as much as the rest of them.

“Ever did a L’ulo stand in zero g?” Poe asked Luke when they jumped out of hyperspace.

“That’s an atmospheric manoeuvre”, Luke replied. “You can’t pull that off in space.”

“You’re of little faith.”

“All right, flyboy, bring it”, Luke said with a challenging gleam in his eyes. For a Jedi he wasn’t very mysterious. During the week they had all spent on Yavin Poe had learned why his parents had always spoken of Luke so fondly, not as if he was a living legend but their old friend who had pulled one crazy stunt after the other.

“Please don’t”, Finn said behind him.

Poe threw him a grin over his shoulder. “I’ll make it up to you”, he promised.

Rey gave him a thumbs up and Poe winked at her before he turned back to the console.

“Watch and weep”, he told Luke and pushed the Falcon to full speed before he cut the engine again and pulled the control stick down. If they had been in an atmosphere any pursuer would have been forced to fly past because the manoeuvre would’ve stopped their ship due to pressure and gravitation. Neither of these were enough to have the same effect in space. So instead Poe pulled the up and back and started the engine again, going back the same the direction they had just come from. He had figured out the second part when he had ended up in the middle of a First Order attack on a freighter.

“Knew you could do it”, Rey grinned and slapped his shoulder.

Finn looked decidedly green around the gills while Luke was impressed.

“I don’t think that even Wedge could’ve pulled this one off”, he said.

“I’m the best pilot in the galaxy”, Poe smirked.

Luke narrowed his eyes at him. “We’ll see.”

Before he could challenge Poe to another crazy flight manoeuvre they were hailed by the base on D’Qar who was giving them permission to land.

“And I just wanted to test your asteroid diving skills”, Luke told Poe.

“Next time”, Poe said with a wink.

Leia was waiting for them on the landing strip and the expression on her face was too serious for her not be here on business. When she greeted him with “Commander Dameron”, only supported Poe’s assumptions. “I need to talk to you.”

“General Organa, if it’s about us being late, that’s my fault”, Finn said immediately and with such an earnest expression that Poe wanted to kiss him. Of course he pretty much always wanted to kiss Finn but sometimes more than other times.

She gave him an indulgent look. “It’s not about that, Lieutenant Finn.” Then she nodded towards the others, “Luke, Rey”, before she turned back to Poe. “Follow me please.”

She didn’t say another word until they were in the room Leia used as her office which were also her quarters. “Have a seat”, she said and Poe did as he was told. The last time he had seen her like this she had given him the mission to retrieve the map to find Luke.

She looked so worn down that he felt the urge to hug her. “Ma’am?”

“We finished the negotiations with the Republic while you were gone”, she said. Poe would’ve thought that was a good thing but apparently not. “Minster Tain has been appointed acting chancellor.”

Poe felt his stomach drop. He had an idea where this was going.

“One of the non-negotiable terms was that Commander Tain and his squadron would be stationed here on D’Qar, at Commander Tain’s insistence.”

Poe felt as if he was sick. His heart was racing in his chest and he couldn’t breathe.

“Poe”, Leia said and rested her hands on his shoulders. He felt a calming presence spread through him. Just because she wasn’t a Jedi, didn’t mean Leia didn’t have some tricks up her sleeve.

“Sorry”, Poe said automatically.

She gave him a sad smile. “There’s no need. I’d be more worried if you hadn’t panicked.”

“When are they arriving?” Poe asked.

“In three days together with the other reinforcements the Republic has sent us”, Leia answered. She walked back to her desk, took something from it and held it out to him. “I’m promoting you to Major. You’ll command every single starfighter we and the Republic have left.”

“Including Tain’s?” He asked bitterly.

“Including Tain’s”, she replied. “I’m sorry I can’t do more to protect you.”

“I’ll be fine”, he assured her and pinned his new insignia to his jacket. “I have an advantage over last time. I know now not to trust him. Or any of them.”

It was only after he had left that Leia said, “I wish that would be enough.”

/

Finn knew that Jess was absolutely serious about whatever issue she called a secret meeting when Luke entered the room and she barely blushed or stammered. BB8 had given him, Rey and Luke Jess’ message just after Poe had left with Leia.

Karé, Iolo and Snaps were already there as well and only Snaps looked like he knew what was going on. At first Finn had thought that Jess was planning a surprise party or something like that but Poe’s birthday wasn’t for another seven months and her face was too serious.

“Okay, everyone’s here, good”, Jess said. “The Republic’s reinforcements will arrive in three days, among them a Commander Tain with his squadron.” She pulled up a holo projection of six people, three humans, a togruta, a quarren and a twi’lek. “We’ll need to iron out the details but under no circumstances is Poe to be left alone on base while these people are here.”

In this moment Jess reminded Finn of General Hux, looking like she would personally execute anyone who dared to go against her orders.

“Why?” Rey asked.

“Poe doesn’t get along with them”, Karé said. “I don’t know why though.”

Everyone except Snaps looked at Jess. 

She shook her head. “Poe doesn’t want to talk about it, so none of you are going to ask him”, she said. “And none of you are going to tell him about this. BB8”, she looked at the droid. “If Poe’s ever on his own outside his quarters, you’re going to get one of us as soon as possible. Especially if you see any of Tain’s squadron in the vicinity.”

BB8 beeped affirmatively and Finn thought it was a bit of a superfluous order. Since Jakku BB8 only left Poe’s side when he was ordered to, which had resulted in more awkward situations than Finn cared to think about.

Jess started talking about schedules and how they would make sure that Poe wasn’t left alone but Finn was only listening with one ear. He stared at the holos, trying to memorise the faces. He couldn’t help but feel worried. Had these people hurt Poe? They must have or else Jess wouldn’t be so adamant about keeping Poe away from them.

Poe hadn’t said anything but then Finn had already noticed Poe’s tendency to brush his own problems aside especially for Finn. But their relationship was only a few months old and Finn didn’t know if he should push for answers or not. He hoped that Poe would open up to him once he learned that Finn could deal with it, for example whatever the reason was behind Poe not liking to be called pet names.

/

“Major Dameron.”

“Commander Tain”, Poe forced his voice to sound normal. He was glad that Jess and Snaps were with him, flanking him like two bodyguards. He didn’t think he could’ve done this on his own.

“Congratulations on the promotion”, Tain said and licked his lips. He was undressing Poe with his eyes but there was nothing Poe could do about it.

“Thank you”, he replied. “I’ll see you for the debriefing tomorrow morning.”

“So quick to go? Don’t you want to spend some time with your old friends, Poe?”

Poe gave him a sharp look. “We were never friends, Commander, so you’ll forgo that intimate tone, am I clear?”

“Harsh words, Major”, Tain replied.

“We’re at war, Commander. Get used to it.”

He moved on to introduce himself to the rest of the new squadrons that he would have under his command now. Most he recognised in one way or another but that only made it more obvious how many were missing, how many had been killed by the First Order.

“Poe!” Major Deso looked happy to see him and offered his hand, which Poe took without hesitation. “Congratulations on the promotion.”

“Thank you”, Poe said. He was glad his old commanding officer had survived.

“The stories of your bravery made it all the way back to your old station”, Deso said. “Did you really escape the First Order by stealing one of their ships and using it to blow up their base?”

“The truth is not quite so daring”, Poe replied and launched into a retelling of his mission and the run on the Starkiller Base.

“Not quite so daring he says”, Deso said and rolled his eyes. “Heard Tain and his squad are here as well. Are you going to relive your wild days then or did someone actually manage to tame you?”

Poe felt the blood freeze in his veins. “No”, he managed to say, “I’m in a relationship now.”

“This guy was the wildest pilot you can imagine”, Deso gave Jess a conspiring grin. “Don’t know if the gossip made it all the way back to the Resistance but all Poe needed to do to get someone into his bed was to wink at them. There was this one night where he managed to get with six people at once, six! That’s some kind of record.” He slapped Poe on the shoulder as if it was something to be proud of.

Poe forced himself to smile. “I’ve turned over a new leaf.”

“Good for you”, there wasn’t single trace of maliciousness in Deso’s face. He only repeated the rumours that had circulated everywhere at the time. “They must be something special if they managed to break a wild guy like you.”

It was the encounter with Deso more than the one with Tain that threw him off so badly. He was pretty sure that Tain or one of the others had spread the rumours about the night Poe Dameron couldn’t get enough and fucked six people at once. And like all juicy gossip it had been everywhere. Iolo, Muran and Karé had noticed very quickly that these rumours had made him uncomfortable but everyone else had treated it like something he should’ve been proud of when all Poe had wanted to do was to forget.

No one had made any of these comments when he had joined the Resistance and he had been glad. But now, with the Republic’s forces here on D’Qar, he just knew he would hear it again. That was almost worst than having to deal with Tain and his squad on a daily basis.

He was glad that Jess and Snaps didn’t leave his side for the rest of the day. Finn, Karé, Iolo, Rey and Luke joined them for dinner, taking a whole table for themselves.

Poe did his best not to look in the direction where Tain and the others sat. Instead he challenged Luke and Rey to a flight match as soon as they could get their hands on three X-Wings.

“We can’t really decide who’s the best pilot without Wedge”, Luke said.

“You mean Admiral ‘I flew against two deathstars and survived’ Antilles would come all the way to D’Qar for a match”, Poe said despite knowing full well that Admiral Antilles would just do that.  
“I’ll ask him tonight”, Luke replied.

“Shouldn’t you also ask Lando Calrissian and Chewbacca?” Jess asked.

“She’s right”, Luke said and Jess promptly blushed to her roots.

“I’m sure the Minister of Economics and the newly appointed leader of the Wookie military have nothing better to do either”, Poe drawled.

“Not if it means kicking our asses at flying”, Luke replied.

“Your ass”, Poe corrected him with a smile.

“Talk all you want, I’m going to win”, Rey threw in.

Next to her Finn nodded in agreement.

Poe narrowed his eyes on him. “On whose side are you?”

“On hers”, Finn replied. “The first time you flew a TIE fighter we were shot down. The first time Rey flew the Falcon we took down four TIE fighters and escaped unharmed.”

“That’s it, you’re sleeping on the couch tonight”, Poe said and crossed his arms over his chest. “BB8 zap him if he even thinks about getting into my bed.”

BB8 sounded a little too enthusiastic about that order.

“If the space in your bed is free, can I join?” Areno had suddenly appeared behind Poe and leaned over him, whispering the question into his ear.

“Fuck off”, Jess growled.

“What?” Areno asked, not moving an inch. “I’m only asking an old friend if he’s free for a little fun.”

“No”, Poe said, trying to ignore how much Areno’s presence affected him. “Now leave me.”

Areno sighed and did retreat, but his hand still rested on Poe’s shoulder for a moment when he said, “Tain already mentioned you’re no fun anymore. But maybe we can change that soon.”

Poe stood up abruptly and left the mess hall with fast steps but not quite running yet with BB8 on his heels. Finn wanted to follow him but Snaps pushed him back into his seat and followed Poe himself.

/

“Hey”, Poe said when he came to his and Finn’s room. 

“Hey”, Finn replied and smiled. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine”, Poe said, predictably. “That was nothing.”

“That didn’t look like nothing.”

“I don’t get along with Tain and his squad. But I have to work with them. What happened today was unprofessional. It won’t happen again.”

Finn wasn’t sure if Poe was talking to him or to himself. He held out his hand and when Poe took it, he pulled Poe onto the bed. “You can talk to me.”

“Just let it go, Finn, please.”

Finn hated seeing Poe like this, as if he was hurting from an old wound and there was absolutely nothing Finn could do. “Okay”, he said reluctantly. He leaned in to kiss Poe but Poe pulled away.

“Not tonight, Finn. I don’t feel like it.”

“Okay”, Finn squeezed his hand. “Do you want me to take the other bed?”

Poe shook his head. “I want you close, I just don’t want to have sex. Sorry.”

“I’ll have you know that cuddling with you is just as good as having sex with you”, Finn smiled.

Poe raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

“I’ve had sex before I met you but I never had someone to cuddle. So my sex deficit is a lot lower than my cuddling deficit”, Finn said lightly. Not only was it true but it also made Poe smile and that had been his main goal. They arranged themselves on the bed, Finn on his back with Poe curled up against his chest and BB8 on his charging station next to the desk.

As usual Finn tried to stay awake until Poe had fallen asleep. He loved listening to Poe’s even breathing, how soft and pliant he was and how much trust Poe showed him when he let Finn this close when he was at his most vulnerable. 

And soon enough he fell asleep as well even if tonight it didn’t last long. He was woken up by Poe whimpering in his sleep as if he was in pain. “Please...no...just let me leave...please...don’t....”

Finn shook his shoulder. “Poe. Poe wake up.”

He wasn’t the only one awake. BB8 had left his station and was next to the bed, beeping worriedly.

Finn shook him a little harder. “Poe, wake up, it’s just a dream.”

Poe’s eyes flew open. For a moment there was nothing but pure horror written across his face until he realised where he was. He took a deep breath and rubbed a hand over his face. “Sorry.”

“It’s fine. It was just a nightmare”, Finn replied, rubbing his hand comfortingly over Poe’s back.

“I’m sorry I woke you up.”

“You don’t have to be. I get nightmares too, remember?”

But Poe didn’t seem to listen to him. “I should take the other bed.”

He was about to get out of bed but Finn curled a hand around his arm to stop him. “If that’s what you want, okay. But don’t leave just because you might wake me up again.”

Judging by the look on Poe’s face he had made the right guess. “You have enough to deal with.”

Finn swallowed the surge of anger he felt at Poe’s words and instead replied, “You always say in a relationship people share each other’s burden. So you’re not going anywhere.”

BB8 beeped his support of Finn’s course of action.

Poe gave him a weak smile. “It’s not fair when both of you are quoting my own words against me.”

“Tough luck”, Finn said with a smiled and brushed a few strands from Poe’s face. “If you ever want to talk about it, I’m here.”

“Thank you”, Poe replied and settled back on Finn’s chest.

/

Poe didn’t have any more nightmares that night but did pretty much every single night afterwards. Karé and Iolo said Poe also had them when they were off base which was the case more often than Finn was comfortable with. At least with his new status as commander over the united starfigher fleet Poe didn’t have any single missions anymore.

On base Jess’ system seemed to work. Poe was never on his own. If he had noticed he hadn’t said anything about it. Maybe he was even glad about it because it meant he wasn’t alone when Tain or any of his squad came to close.

With the new forces from the Republic came a new slew of gossip from Poe’s days in the Republic Fleet. Their relationship wasn’t secret and more than one person had congratulated him on taming Poe as if he was some sort of wild animal.

“Would you mind sharing him?” Iridia, the twi’lek woman from Tain’s squadron asked him one day out of the blue.

“What?”

“Share Poe. You must have noticed by now that one cock isn’t enough to satisfy him.”

“Shut up”, Finn said and walked away from her. 

“I’d feel inadequate too if I knew my boyfriend could take four from both ends”, she called after him.

It was moments like this that gave new flames to the gossip. Poe tried to pretend that the rumours weren’t hurting him but they did. Finn could see that. And if that wasn’t enough Tain and his squadron continued to be near Poe as if they were just waiting for an opportunity.

/

Poe was standing in line to get lunch with Rey when Barla approached them from behind.

“How about another ride?” Barla whispered into his ear and grabbed his ass. His tray clattered to the floor and she was gone as soon as she had appeared.

“Watch it”, Rey yelled after her. She crouched down and helped Poe to pick up his lunch. “You’re okay?”

“I’m fine”, Poe said and pretended his heart wasn’t racing in his chest. Just smelling her perfume again made him feel nauseous.

“She’s ruder than Teedo after three rounds of Brtek”, Rey said and glared at Barla’s back.

“Where there any actual words in that sentence?” Poe teased her.

“You always looked your best on your knees”, Kleo called from a nearby table, followed by the laughter of more than a few people.

Rey was on her feet in a second, yelling words in a language Poe didn’t understand but from her tone and expression it wasn’t hard to catch the meaning. BB8 was at her heels, only moments away from zapping Kleo.

“Did you fuck her too, Poe?” Kleo asked, his eyes sliding from Rey to Poe. “Probably together with your pet storm trooper. You always needed a bit of encouragement when it came to girls.”

“Captain Kleo”, Leia said sharply from the doorway. “You will not use this kind of tone with your commanding officer or I’ll have you grounded for a week.”

Kleo looked as if he had an answer for that but he was not Tain. His father was not acting chancellor of the Republic, so he decided to play it safe. “Of course, Ma’am.” He looked at Poe. “Sorry, sir.”

“See that it doesn’t happen again”, Poe replied. He picked up the rest of his lunch and found a table with Rey and Leia.

“Can’t you send them to a different planet?” Rey asked Leia as soon as they had sat down.

Leia shook her head. “Being the son of the acting chancellor means Commander Tain had pick and choose missions as he wants to. Not professional of course but professionalism is something that the whole family lacks.”

“Luke could toss them down a cliff”, Rey suggested as if it was no big deal and Poe had never loved her more.

“Are you saying you can’t?” He asked teasingly.

“I could pelt them with pebbles”, Rey replied and grinned. “Luke says size doesn’t matter but when I challenged him to lift an X-Wing he didn’t want to do that either, so I think he’s lying.”

“I always imagined Jedi training to be more dignified or more mysterious”, Poe said.

Leia smiled. “Luke didn’t have more than a couple months training. He’s mostly making it up as he goes.”

“That explains so much”, Rey said.

“I hope you’re not telling my student any stories about me that could give her the wrong impression”, Luke said as he appeared next to their table, his eyes crinkling with a smile.

“Depends. What have you told her about the escape from the death star?” Leia asked.

“That the second time around it was flawless”, Luke replied.

“My dad said my mum nearly shot you”, Poe said. “And my mum said that time you broke into an imperial lab with her to steal the trees, you had her pose as someone who had only one eye and you were exposed immediately.”

“I did blow up the first Death Star though”, Luke said so primly that the others couldn’t help but laugh. After a moment he joined in. “Everything else was a team effort.” He looked at Poe. “Did anyone ever tell you how your mother, Leia and the then Queen of Naboo attacked an imperial Fleet in three outdated T1 fighters?”

“Yes, and we won”, Leia replied.

“You won because Lando appeared with reinforcements at the last moment”, Luke said. “Speaking of which”, he grinned at Rey and Poe. “A month from now we’re going to settle who’s the best pilot in the galaxy.”

Rey laughed excitedly and Poe hadn’t felt this happy in a while. “You got through to all three of them?”

“I did.”

“Flyboys and – girls”, Leia said and rolled her eyes.

/

It wasn’t that Poe hadn’t noticed that his friends never left him alone. It was that he hadn’t minded. But as much as he loved his friends he did need to be alone sometimes. So after a lot of persuasion he had managed to make Rey leave him alone while he was making some adjustments to his X-Wing.

And he wasn’t truly alone. After Jakku BB8 hadn’t really left him alone for anything unless he was a 100% sure that Poe wasn’t about to face any danger. Which in the first couple days after their reunion had meant that yes, BB8 had watched him shower because Poe could’ve slipped.

“Three more weeks and then we can show everyone who’s the best pilot in the galaxy”, Poe said to BB8 as he tidied up. It was getting pretty late but he had wanted to get this done tonight. 

“R2 is confident he and Luke are going to win”, BB8 replied.

“Oh yeah?” Poe laughed. “What do you think?”

“Rey is a better pilot”, BB8 beeped in a tone he always used when he was being cute.

“I can switch you out for a different droid, you know”, Poe threatened good-naturedly.

“You wouldn’t”, BB8 replied self-confidently.

“You’re right, I wouldn’t”, Poe replied and patted BB8. He yawned as he stood up. “Let’s go. I’m getting pretty tired.”

“You won’t be so tired when you see Finn”, BB8 beeped slyly.

“Keep this up and I won’t let you spend any more time with R2”, Poe warned him as they entered the empty hallway. Only it wasn’t empty, Poe realised after a moment. In the dim light from the emergency exit signs he could make out three figures.

“Hey Poe.” Tain said as Poe came closer. 

“Tain.” Poe said as calmly as he could. His heart was racing in his chest. Suddenly Tain grabbed his arm and pushed him against the wall. Behind him Poe could see Tla’Re and Barla as well.

“You couldn’t hide behind your friends forever, Poe.” Tain’s voice was deceptively soft, like the fur of a Nexu beast.

“I wasn’t hiding. I just enjoy their company”, Poe replied, trying to hide how scared he was. Tain and his friends had him cornered. It was late and they were the only people in this part of the base. He had told Finn not to wait up for him and no one else knew where he was. Even during his confrontation with Kylo Ren he had been less frightened.

It was all he could do not to flinch when Tain raised his hand and stroked his face. An affectionate gesture should never feel this threatening.

“I was looking forward to this, Poe”, Tain said in the same soft tone. “You’re too pretty to only fuck you once. I was very disappointed when you went and tattled to the high command right the next morning. But luckily for you my father sorted everything out. Still, I think you should be punished. What do you guys think?”

Tla’Re and Barla murmured affirmatively. All three of them looked like a pack of hungry jungle cats that had their prey cornered.

Poe collected all his bravery and tried to push through them. “Fuck off.”

But Tain pushed him back against the wall. “Not so fast, darling.” He took Poe’s chin forced his head to the side. “Heard you’re fucking the storm trooper now”, he said as his lips caressed Poe’s neck. “Or does he fuck you? Does he hold you down and makes you take it like I did? Do you beg as prettily for him as you did for me?” His free hand slipped under Poe’s shirt and caressed his chest, light touches that made him shiver. “But we know one cock’s not enough for a greedy little slut like you. I know you want it. You wanted it back then too.”

“Please let me go”, Poe whispered. He stood there like a frightened rabbit, unable to move a single muscle. He fervently wished for Finn to come and save him. Or Jess or Snaps. Anyone.

“It’s your own fault”, Tain said, squeezing Poe’s ass. “If you weren’t such a pretty little whore none of this would have happened. You really shouldn’t have led us on.”

“Get the fuck away from him”, Jess snarled. She stood in the entrance of the hangar, blaster in her hand and pointing at Tain. Next to her stood Snaps, Karé, Iolo, Rey and Finn all equally armed.

“Just talking to an old friend”, Tain said glibly. “Nothing wrong with that, Lieutenant.”

“I said get the fuck away from him”, Jess repeated.

“Or what? You’ll shoot me?” Tain asked mockingly.

“Only once I order her”, another voice said and Luke Skywalker stepped out of a side door and activated his light sabre. “And should you survive that, which doubt, I’ll cut off a few parts just to make sure you learn your lesson.”

“Go”, Snaps said.

Tain narrowed his eyes. “I don’t see why, since I didn’t do anything wrong. You don’t know Poe like I do. Guy can’t open his mouth without telling a lie.”

A blaster shot barely missed Tain’s head and hit the wall behind him. “Get the fuck away from Poe”, Finn growled. “Last warning.”

Tain raised his hands. “As you wish”, he said and hissed to Poe, “I’ll get you back for this, whore.” Then he left with Tla’Re and Barla in tow. 

Poe’s legs gave in and he slid down the wall. The crying fit he had tried to stave off hit him with full force and sobs were escaping his mouth before he had even hit the ground. As if that wasn’t bad enough there was the shame he felt for not fighting back and the panic that Tain’s presence had recalled. 

“Poe, Poe it’s okay”, Jess was the first one at his side, wrapping her arms around him. Snaps was at his side as well, his warm, large hands stroking Poe’s back while he made soft, calming noises.

Karé, Iolo, Finn and Rey stood aside, equally uncertain what they had just witnessed and if the comfort they could offer would be welcome.

Luke crouched down in front of him. “Poe”, he said warmly. “Poe look at me.”

Poe did, his eyes bloodshot and tear stained, his face blotchy. 

“You’re safe now, Poe”, Luke said and gently stroked his hair. “You are safe. Do you want to sleep for a bit?”

Poe gave him a tiny nod.

“Then you can do that”, Luke said. Poe’s eyes closed and he fell asleep immediately.

“What…who were these people?” Finn asked.

“That’s for Poe to tell you”, Luke said. “Can you carry him back to your room?”

Finn nodded. Poe wasn’t that heavy.

“I told General Organa we shouldn’t have allowed them to come here in the first place”, Jess seethed. She looked ready to go on a murder spree and so did Snaps even if he wasn’t quite as vocal about it.

“They hurt him, didn’t they?” Rey asked.

“As I said it’s Poe’s story to tell”, Luke replied.

“How do you know?” Jess asked warily.

“I felt it in the Force. And I could read it in their thoughts, not in Poe’s. He’s my friend as well. I wouldn’t go behind his back like this”, Luke assured her.

“We should bring him to the infirmary”, Snaps said. “I know it looked like we came in time but I want to make sure”, he added when Jess made an abrupt motion.

“Would you believe my assurance if I said there wasn’t anything physically wrong with Poe?” Luke asked.

“To be honest? No”, Snaps replied. 

/

Poe woke up in the med bay. For a moment he wondered why. Had he hurt himself while working on his ship? But he didn’t feel any pain or the slightly cloudy feeling that came with the painkillers. But then it came back to him. Tain. The confrontation with his friends. His panic attack.

He opened his eyes. Finn was sitting on a chair next to his bed, looking worried. Behind him stood Iolo and Karé, Jess, Rey, Luke and Snaps.

“Poe!” Finn was the first one to notice that he was awake. “Are you okay?”

From the corner of his eyes he could see Jess scowling as he said, “I’m fine.”

“That guy...Tain...he didn’t hurt you, did he?” Finn asked.

Poe looked at Snaps and Jess. “What did you tell them?”

“We told them nothing”, Snaps assured them.

“You had a panic attack after the scumbag cornered you”, Jess added. “it’s not hard to draw the right conclusions.”

“Guess I owe you all an explanation.”

“Poe, no”, Iolo said. “You owe us nothing.”

But Poe shook his head. “I should’ve done this weeks ago.” He took a deep breath and started. “I had a reputation for being a flirt when I was in the Fleet. I thought I was just being friendly but I was wrong. People thought I was leading them on because I didn’t want to date anybody. I mean I did but not in the Fleet. I didn’t want to mix work and my private life.”

Poe stole a quick look at Finn’s face. Their relationship was so new and Finn had enough to deal with on his own, Poe hadn’t wanted to burden him with his crap as well.

“And Tain was one of the people who thought you were leading them on?” Rey asked.

Poe nodded. “He wasn’t the only one, just the most persistent. His father is Minister of Defence, I’m guessing he wasn’t used to hearing the word no. Tain...Tain found a couple others who thought the same. They figured they could take by force what I refused to give them. I...they were my fellow pilots. I didn’t suspect anything when they invited me for a couple drinks.” The words became harder to say. He had to force each of them from his mouth.

“They raped me. I don’t remember the start or the end of it, they had drugged me so I wouldn’t be able to tell where it had happened.” He looked at Jess and she understood.

“Snaps and I found him in front of the building we were staying in”, she picked up. “It was winter and they had dumped him there, the doctors said they had probably thrown him off a speeder without slowing down. We called an ambulance.”

“I woke up in the hospital”, Poe took back over. “It was pretty clear pretty soon what had happened. They took pictures of my injuries and also DNA samples.”

“Of course all those things vanished when it came to the hearing”, Snaps said bitterly.

“I filed a report against them”, Poe continued. He looked down on his hands. He remembered what one guy from the military police had said, ‘No need to call your morning after regret rape, Dameron. We’ve all heard what you usually get up to.’

“Barely anyone took my claims seriously. Because of the reputation I had most people thought I was just having regrets after a particularly wild night. There wasn’t a trial, just a closed hearing. Leia...General Organa was the only one who believed me. None of the evidence against Tain was available anymore. Tain’s father graciously said he’d let the issue slide if I never spoke about it again.”

“It wasn’t just the physical evidence”, Snaps added. “All the witnesses in Poe’s favour had vanished too. Besides Jess and I and they didn’t believe us because we’re Poe’s friends.”

“Is that when you left the Fleet for the Resistance?” Rey asked. 

Poe shook his head. “The Resistance didn’t really exist yet, not like this anyway, not officially. I returned to my squadron but the rumours of what had happened followed me there. People started to make jokes about it, how I couldn’t get enough and all that like they do now. I thought I could live through that. I loved being a pilot, loved it more than anything else. But I didn’t join the Resistance until I saw the atrocities the First Order committed and how unwilling the Republic was to do anything about it.”

From the corners of his eyes he could see Karé and Iolo nod. That was the part of the story they had known already since they had been there and taken the same decision as he had.

“I’m going to kill them”; Rey said. When he looked up at her she seemed barely two seconds away from leaving and mauling Tain and his friends to death.

“That’s what I’ve been saying for years”, Jess agreed.

“Me, too”, BB8 beeped from the ground.

The only one who hadn’t said anything besides Luke was Finn. Poe couldn’t look at him. He was too scared of what he would see. Maybe Finn saw him as damaged goods now, dirty and defiled and unworthy of his affection. Who knew what kind of attitude they had towards rape in the First Order?

“I should’ve shot him in the head”, Finn said suddenly and drew Poe’s attention to him. He looked cold, determined; this was the face of the man who had charged at Kylo Ren with a weapon he had barely known how to use. “Next time, I will.” He wasn’t kidding. Poe had no doubts that the next time Finn saw Tain in Poe’s vicinity he would take his blaster and kill him.

“I don’t want you to go to jail or worse”, he said because he didn’t. Losing Finn to get rid of Tain wouldn’t be worth it.

“They won’t catch me”, Finn replied with absolute certainty.

“We should all get some sleep before anyone kills anybody”, Luke said. “Not that I disagree. But this needs planning and none of us have the capacity for that right now.”

“You’re not going to kill any of them”, Poe said firmly, looking at each of them. “I don’t want to lose any of you. That wouldn’t be worth it.”

“We’ll think of something else then”, Luke assured him. “But first we should all go to bed.”

“I’d like to stay if that’s okay with you?” Finn asked Poe.

When Poe nodded, Luke said, “I’ll ask Major Kalonia.”

One by one the others left until it was just Poe, Finn and BB8. 

“Did I pressure you into having sex with me?” Finn asked clearly worried.

Poe was so taken aback by the question that he was sure he had misheard. “What?”

“Did I pressure you into having sex with me?” Finn repeated.

“Of course not. Why would you even think that?” Poe frowned. Of all the reactions he had expected from Finn, this hadn’t been one of them.

“Sometimes you do things you don’t like because it makes other people happy. I need to know that this isn’t one of those times. You’re too self-sacrificing sometimes.”

“I’m not”, Poe insisted even though Finn hadn’t been the first one to point that one out to him.

“That’s not what General Organa said”, Finn replied but his tone was lighter than before and he was smiling.

Poe took Finn’s hand in his. “Are you at least going to believe me when I say that I have sex with you because I want to?”  
Finn studied Poe’s face. He had figured out by now that Poe could be a pretty good liar when he wanted to be. “I do”, he said eventually.

/

“We need to do something about Tain and his friends”, Luke said when he came into Leia’s office.

“You and everyone else who was there last night thinks that”, Leia replied. “All except Captain Wexley.”

“I thought he would’ve been here first”, Luke replied.

“Captain Wexley wouldn’t ask for permission. He’ll sabotage their ships and that’ll be the end of it.”

Luke looked as if he thought that was an excellent idea.

“No”, Leia said.

“He’s Shara’s son. We can’t sit around and do nothing. Not again.”

Leia swallowed a sharp reminder that he hadn’t even been there last time and said, “Do you think I like it? But Tain’s father isn’t just Minister of Defence anymore. Thanks to the First Order he’s acting chancellor of the Republic. If he could cover up a gangrape this easily do you think he’ll be stopped by an assault?”

“Can’t we at least put him on a different base?”

Leia shook her head. “Tain expressively wanted to be on D’Qar. And if I send Poe somewhere else I’m sure he’d request to be put there as well.”

“What if Tain confessed?” Luke asked. Jedi mind tricks weren’t really his forte, never had been. But there were other ways he could use his powers to get the desired result.

Leia gave him a long hard look, then she said, “Don’t get caught.”

/

 

SON OF CHANCELLOR TAIN ON TRIAL FOR RAPE CHARGES

CHANCELLOR TAIN RESIGNED OVER GANGRAPE SCANDAL INVOLVING HIS SON

MINISTER OF ECONOMICS LANDO CALRISSIAN ELECTED AS NEW INTERIM CHANCELLOR

“Thank you”, Poe said for about the 100th time today. The trial had been concluded this morning after it had been put on fast track due to public pressure after Tain’s confession and had resulted with a guilty sentence for all accused parties. It wasn’t over completely yet, ex-chancellor Tain was still facing charges for concealment of a crime but at least Tain and his friends would be behind bars for a long time.

“If you want to thank us you could drop out of the race tomorrow”, Rey said.

After the destruction of the Hosnian System Coruscant had been made the interim capital and that was where they had spent the last few weeks while Poe, Jess, Leia and Snaps had testified at court. Finn, Rey, Luke, Iolo and Karé had followed them, absolutely refusing to leave their friends and especially Poe on their own for this.

“In your dreams”, Poe replied and laughed. The relief that it was finally over, that he would never have to worry about Tain or any of them ever again, made him look years younger. 

“It was worth a try”, Rey said and leaned back in her chair. 

“I would’ve thought that forcing someone to confess would count under misuse of the Force”, Admiral Antilles said. He had only joined them today for the challenge tomorrow where they would decide, for now, who was the best pilot of the galaxy.

“Jedi are meant to be peacekeepers, so I kept the peace by removing scum like that”, Luke said in a tone that meant he had improvised like so often. Sometimes it was handy to be the only Jedi around.

“Very commendable too”, Lando said. “And I’m not just saying that because it resulted in my election as chancellor.”

“Interim chancellor”, Leia reminded him.

Lando gave her his most charming smile. “I’ll be chancellor.”

Next to him Chewbacca huffed and shook his head.

“You’re okay?” Finn asked Poe quietly. He had his arm around Poe’s shoulders and Poe was resting more against him than against the back of the couch.

“I’m fine”, Poe replied. “Still can’t believe it’s over.”

“We could’ve killed them”, Jess said, “If you had let us.”

Poe shook his head with a smile on his lips. “This is better. Everyone knows now but it’s still better. I got about a hundred messages from the other pilots apologising that they ever believed those rumours.”

“How did Kes take it?” Leia asked.

“Not very well”, Poe said in a tone that clearly meant he didn’t want to talk about it. He knew that his dad would forever wonder why Poe hadn’t told him back when it had happened.

Snaps raised his glass. “To Poe.”

“To Poe”, everyone else echoed.

Poe felt himself blush but he accepted the toast anyway.

“Don’t think we’re going to let you win tomorrow though”, Rey warned him.

“I’m going to win anyway”, Poe replied, smiling. “You know why? Because I’m the best pilot this galaxy has.”

“We’ll see”, Wedge said. “We’ll see.”

/

They had all agreed that a straight up race wasn’t enough to test their pilot skills so instead the challenge was to make through an obstacle course including atmospheric and zero g routes, flying through debris and dodging enemy fire from some of the best shots Wedge had found as well as drones.

They had even found an X-Wing model that was big enough for Chewbacca despite protests from Lando and Chewbacca that they hadn’t flown that many X–Wings before until Rey had pointed out that neither had she and they couldn’t all take the Falcon.

The good natured heckling had lasted the whole morning and all the way back from Coruscant to D’Qar and would’ve continued over the coms if Leia hadn’t threatened to call the whole thing off if they didn’t stop.

“Still betting on Rey?” Poe asked as he and Finn stood next to his ship.

“Sure”, Finn replied and laughed when Poe started to pout. “But you don’t know what I planned if you win.”

“When I win”, Poe said, putting emphasis on the first word. “Do I at least get a good luck kiss?”

“That might give you an unfair advantage.”

“You’re sleeping on the couch.”

“Come here”, Finn grinned and pulled Poe into a kiss that was decidedly more than just for good luck.

“If there’s more of that waiting for me when I win then you’re right, this is an unfair advantage”, Poe murmured when he finally pulled away.

“Go get them”, Finn said as he watched Poe climb into his X-Wing.

“Don’t worry. I will.”

When Finn joined the other spectators, Jess asked, “Did you really bet that Rey will win?”

“Didn’t you?”

“Sure but I’m not the one who’s betting against their boyfriend in this race.”

Finn shrugged. “Poe’s face was worth the 15 credits I’m going to lose.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So who did win? I couldn't make up my mind, so I left the answer open.
> 
> (There was actually a scene where Luke makes Tain confess but no matter how often I rewrote it, it always was too similar of the same scene from Being Human so I ended up leaving it out altogether)

**Author's Note:**

> Find me [ here](http://smaragdbird.tumblr.com/) on tumblr


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